A week from now I will be at East Wind. Pretty crazy. It came much faster than I was expecting, and right after the holidays. Caught me a little off-guard but I’m super excited and have been wrapping up my business in “the real world.”
I’m also a little nervous. There’s definitely a small part of me that wonders if I’m not making a huge mistake. It’s hard to turn one’s back on all conventional wisdom. It’s not easy knowing most people think I’m making a big mistake. Will I really like it there? Will I be happy? Will I find meaningful connections? If I’m honest with myself the answer to these questions is: I don’t know.
But I do know that these questions come from fear. And I know that this has been my dream for more than eight years. And I know that I have yet to conceive of a more powerful way to fight for our future, which I believe with all my heart desperately needs fighting for. And I know I can see no way to be truly happy living a mainstream lifestyle. And most importantly, I know the only way I can know the answer to these questions is to do it. And so I am.
I’ve already stripped my possessions down to what could fit in my car when I came to Missouri from New Jersey, so I don’t have much packing to do. Throwing clothes in boxes is most of what I have left. I work four last restaurant shifts, and at last get to say goodbye to work as it’s normally thought of. That I know I won’t miss.
I won’t be doing it right away, but I will be cancelling my cellphone service. I’ll be using the Internet and East Wind’s landline to communicate.
I’m stepping into a big unknown. Wish me well 🙂
Originally published January 10, 2016